TIA Blog

When asked to define the ideal leader, many would emphasize
traits and skills such as intelligence, self-awareness, being a good listener,
a motivator and a visionary—and perhaps even a few more personal qualities.

Here at TIA, our Engineering Committee focused on mobile and
personal private radio standards for first responders – TR-8 – has had the
unique benefit of being afforded exceptional volunteer leadership to guide the
group in a number of initiatives over the course of many years. Since its
inception, the committees outstanding leadership has helped produced more than 400
industry standards.

Earlier this month during a TR-8 committee meeting Kansas
City, Mo., more than 40 TIA members and first-responders recognized the group’s two
long-standing leaders, Mr. John Oblak and Mr. Alan Wilson, with TIA
Certificates of Appreciation.

More than a member, John Oblak aided the committee as an
active contributor and editor for nearly four decades and also served as its
Chairman. He has shown extraordinary leadership in the actual development and
application of voluntary standards in his many roles.

John Oblak

He began his service to the standards industry in May of
1984 and the same year he was elected to chair the TIA TR-8.1 Engineering
Subcommittee on Private Radio Systems Equipment Measurement Methods.

Throughout the years that followed, John oversaw the
development and precise maintenance of more than 300 ANSI and TIA documents and
standards. In addition to his invaluable technical skills, John’s insights and experience
around voluntary consensus industry standards have made him a highly respected
and recognized leader in the global mobile and personal private radio standards
development community. In 2014 John was awarded the ANSI Finegan
Standards Medal for his extraordinary leadership in the actual
development and application of voluntary standards.

Support to recognize John for his contributions came to TIA
from numerous individuals within the public safety community. Letters from other
associations, agencies, government and competing manufactures alike all
reinforcing the notion to honor a great leader.

Today, John has retired from EF Johnson. where he was the
Vice President of Standards and Regulatory Affairs.

Another key member of the TIA TR-8 committee, Mr. Alan
Wilson, has also moved on. Alan’s commitment to mobile and personal private
radio standards is unparalleled and he has been an invaluable asset to TIA’s
standards development as an active contributor, vice-chair of the TR-8 and a chair of TR-8.8 Broadband
Data Systems engineering committee.

Mr. Alan Wilson, TR-8 Committee Vice-Chair

Alan has consistently demonstrated a level of in-depth
technical knowledge combined with genuine personal integrity that is uniquely
unmatched by others.

Both of these individuals demonstrate key attributes that
distinguish their outstanding performance from those who are merely adequate
and it is with great honor that TIA extends its appreciation and gratitude to
both John and Alan, and thanks them for their years of service to the TR-8
engineering committee and the overall standards industry.

TIA is accredited by
the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) to develop voluntary, consensus-based industry standards for a
variety of ICT segments.TIA’s Engineering Committee TR-8 is
responsible for formulating and maintaining standards for private radio
communications systems and equipment for both voice and data applications. TR-8
addresses all technical matters for systems and services, including
definitions, interoperability, and compatibility and compliance requirements.
The types of systems addressed by these standards include business and
industrial dispatch applications, as well as public safety such as law
enforcement, first responder and firefighting applications. To learn more,
visit http://www.tiaonline.org/all-standards/committees/tr-8.